Roller-bearing railway car axle construction



' ROLLER BEARING RAILWAY CAR AXLE CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 14, 1947 R. E. HORGER Aug. 19, 1952 2 srEms-smsm 1 w relmw O N E V W HIS ATTORNEYS.

g- '1952 R. E. HORGER 2,607,638

ROLLER BEARING RAILWAY CAR AXLE CONSTRUCTION Filed NOV. 14, 1947 2 Sl lEETS-SPEET 2 INVENTORZ fe-zz/%z,w, 9 w 651w Vina? HIS ATTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 19, 1952 j STATE I ROLLER-BEARING RAILWAY CAR AXLE CONSTRUCTION 1 Ralph Horger, Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Timken Roller Bearing Company, Canton,

' hio',a corporation of Ohio 7 .Application liovember 14, 1947, Serial No. 786,111

This invention relates principally ,to roller bearing railway car axle constructions of the kind shown in my copending application Serial No. 536,669, new .Patent No. 2,438,214, wherein the roller bearings are enclosed in an'oil containing housing mounted on the axle, a journal box seats on the housing and encloses the ,same, and the housing'isi'provided atits outer end with an oil filler opening. to .which access is had through the opening in the-corresponding end of, thejournal bOX. l '1.

The :principal objectof the present invention is to provide means visible through the access opening in the journal box and the oilfiller opening in the .bearinghousing for indicating the maximum oil; 16V61r11'1-"th313fbt61', to provide. a hinged lid for. said opening which will prevent water and dirt from draining into said-opening, and to enable theilid to @be easily openedthrough the access opening. in thejournalbox." The invention consists in the lubricated roller bearing railwaycar axle construction and-inthe {parts and .combinations and arrangements of parts: hereinafter claimed. y

. J. In the accompanying; drawings, which form part. of this specification} and wherein like sym- .bols,refer to like parts wherever theyoccur.

.Fig. 1 is a central vertical longitudinal sectional view. of a roller bearing railway car axle construction'embodying my invention,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig. 1, showing the lid for theoil filler opening in thebearing housing in opened position,

Fig. 3 ,is'a verticalcross-sectional view on the line 33 in Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view on the line 4-4 in Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is a front elevational view of the lid for the oil filler opening; and 7 Fig. 6 is an inside view of said lid.

My, -invention is shown embodied in a roller bearing railway car axle and journal box assembly of the kind shownin my copending applicationSerialgNo. 536,669, filed May 22, 1944. Said-construction comprises a conventional plain bearing journalbox A having an enlarged dust guard opening I in the inner end thereof and the usual hinged lid 2 forcovering the accessopening 3 m the outer end thereof, an axle B'having a journal portion extending into said journal box through said dust guard opening, and a car wheel C rigid with said axle inwardly of said journal box.

The above axle and journal box assembly is provided with a rotary antifriction bearing con- 4 Claims. (C1. 308-180) .2 V struction, which preferably comprises two axially spaced tapered roller bearings 4 mounted on the axle B and enclosed in a tubular non-rotary oil containing housing or cartridge D. The dust guard opening I in the inner end of the journal box A is large enough to permit passage of the roller bearing housing D through said opening; and the top of said journal box seatson the top of saidhousing which is longitudinally curved after the mannerof the usual plain bearing journal box wedge. p I V The outer end of the bearing housing, D is closed by means of aclosureplate 5 that'is removably secured to said end of said housing by means of. cap screws 6. Escape of oil from and housing are prevented by means of an annular closure plate or ring I that is secured iiatwise to the inner end of said housing by means of cap screws 8 and encircles the outer end of a backing ring 9 which is sleeved on the axle B and seats against a tapered shoulder thereon and is disposed in endwise abutting relation to the inner end of the inner raceway member of the innermost taper roller bearing.

The lower portion of the removableouter end wall 5 of the bearing housing D hasa hollow outstanding ledge portion lfl which forms a horizontal oil pocket 1 l which opensinto said end of said housing adjacent to the bottom thereof.

The hollow'outstanding ledge portion I il of the closure plate 5 has a downwardly and outwardly inclined front wall It, in which isformed a horizontally elongated oilfillerand observation opening 'l3,.the mouth or entrance of which is defined byja. continuous outstanding rib -|4 fo r-me don said inclined 'front wallan'd forming a flat seat aroundsaid opening; Formed integralwith the inclined frontwall; portion l2 of I theghollow outstanding ledge portion Ii!v of the-outer endjclosure plate 5 is a lug which projects inwardly into the pocket ll formed by said hollow ledge portion from the lower edge of the oilfiller and inspection opening 12 and tapers both horizontally and vertically to form an arrowhead pointer or indicator I5. The arrowhead pointer 15 isspaced above-the bottom of the oil pocket ll and indicates the maximum level for the oil, in the bearing housing D. Furthermore, as shown" in Figs. 1 and 2, the ledge portion Iii has its inner bottom surface above the bottom of the housing D so that oil just reaching the ledge and visible at the opening I2 will be an indication of the lowest or minimum allowable oil content of the housing.

The mouth of the oil filler and observation opening l3 in the'outer end closure plate 5 for the bearing housing D is covered by a springclosed horizontally hinged lid 16 which seats fiatwise on the raised fiat bearing surface provided therefor on the continuous outstanding rib l4 around the o il{filler opening 13 and has a lip I! that overhangs the portions of said rib that extend along the top and ends of said opening. The lid I6 has a pair of horizontally spaced hinge lugs l8 formed on the upper edge thereof that are bored to receive a horizontal hinge pin l9 whose ends are supported in axially alined horizontal bores provided therefor in a pair of outstanding supporting lugs 20 on the front face of the closure plate just above the inclined front wall I2 of the outstanding ledge portion thereof, the ends of said hinge pin bein riveted over, as at I9a, on the remote faces of said supporting lugs.

The lid I6 is closed by a double torsion spring 2| comprising'two axiallyspaced reversely'wound helically coiled portions 22 that are sleeved on the hinge pin between the hinge lugs I8 of the lid and are connected by a depending loop portion 23', which bears'against the top of said lid, and terminate in straight outer end portions 24 that extend upwardly between said hinge pin and the end closure plate 5 and bear against the latter. The lid l6 has cylindrical portions 25 integral therewith that extend horizontally therefrom on opposite ends thereof and terminate at their outer ends in heads or collars 26.

By the arrangement described, the bearing housing- D may-be supplied withoil through the oil filler'opening' [3 in the hollow outstanding ledge'portion Illof the end closure plate 5 for said housing, access being. had to said opening through the opening 3 in the outer end of the journal box A. Thearrowhead pointer [5 at the lower edge of the oil 'filleropening extends into the oil pocket I l in the hollow outstandingledge portion of-the endclosure plate and indicates the maximum level of the oil-in the bearing housing D; and such level may-be observed through the access-opening 3 in the journal box A and through said oil filler-opening when the lids for saidopenings are raised. The spring closed lid lfi for-the' oil filler opening l3 may be raised by inserting a standard waste packing bar through the access opening 3-in the journal'box and engaging said bar with either one of the cylindrical extensions 25 at the ends of said lid, the bar being prevented from slipping-off said extensions bythe heads 26 thereof. The double coiled torsion spring 2l serves to seat the lid I6 tightly on the raised flat bearing-surface formed by the outstanding; rib 14 which surrounds the oil filler opening 13; andthe lip H of said lid overhangs the upper and end portions of said rib and serves to deflect water or dirt from-said opening. 7

Obviously, the hereinbefcre described axle, journal box and roller bearing-housing assembly admits of considerable-modification without-departing from my invention. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the precise arrangements shown and described.

What I'claim is:

closure plate for the outer endbf 'sa'id' housing having a hollow outstanding led'ge p'ortion opening into the lower portion thereof, said ledge portion having an interior bottom surface disposed Ill' at the lowest allowable level for the oil in said housing and a downwardly and outwardly inclined front wall with an oil filler opening therein, said journal box having an opening in its outer end through which access may be had to said filler opening, said hollow ledge portion having means therein adjacent to the lower edge of said filler opening and visible through the access opening in said journal box and the filler opening in said housing for indicating the maximum desired level of the oil in the latter.

2. The combination set'forth in claim ,1 wherein said maximum desired oil' level indicating-means comprises an indicator permanently. located in said hollow outstanding ledge adjacent to the lower edgeof said'oil filler opening.

3. The combination-.setforth in claim. lwherein said maximum desired oil" level indicating means comprising a pointer. extending. inwardly into said hollow outstanding ledge from. the lower edge of the oil filler opening and spaced above said interior-bottom surfaceithereof;

4.'A railway rolleri bearing axle: and journal box assembly comprising an axle,.a rotary antifriction bearing mountedion'i saidiaxle, an oil containing housing for said. bearing; a journal box enclosing said housing, and a. removable closure plate for theouter. .e'ndof said housing to retain the oil inrthelhousing; saidclosure plate having a pocketladjacent the bottom thereof defined by a generally horizontally. and. outwardly directed ledge portion arrangedl relatively above the bottom of said oilicontaininghou'sin'g, said pocket also being defined by a downwardly. and outwardly inclined-wallproviding anopening for the introduction of oil and the sight inspection of the oil standing on said'ledge portion, said journal box having an-opening in its outer-end through which access is had-to said inclined wall opening, and an oi-llevel-indicatingpointerpositioned inwardly of 1 said inclined wall opening to be visiblethrough thef latteropeningandthe opening in theouter end of saidjournal box;

HWHQRGER. nni nitizNoiis rori nn j The f llowing r ferenc Le;ofr cord'in.the file of this patent; V 1 I NITEnsraT-s B Number Name: 

